Tag Archives: speakers

Anyone who has a tablet, or smart phone knows that their one weakness is their speakers. One solution is to use a speaker dock. The problem with this solution is that it requires an outlet to plug the dock into. This is not very useful if you are in a park or on a beach, the other solution is to use Bluetooth Speakers. This is where the Zooka speakers by Carbon Audio Inc come in. They are Bluetooth speakers made of medical grade silicon. There are no mechanical moving parts and no dock. It slides on to a tablet or top of a notebook. It was designed so it doesn’t hide the iSight camera. There is a kickstand which tucks away into the side and screws into the back. It includes:

Outdoor Gear announced today a new outdoor speaker, appropriately named the Armadillo. The new speaker works with Bluetooth 4.0 to play your tunes outside without need of worry about the weather conditions.

The company describes the new device as “A larger version of its predecessor, the Turtle Shell®, the Armadillo is a rugged shelled boombox that will allow you to dig into the dirt and experience the outdoor terrain with your favorite tunes via AirPlay or Bluetooth. Ideal for camping and for the home, the Armadillo is shockproof, waterproof, allows for daisy chaining and provides a USB port for charging other devices.”

Details as to release and pricing were left vague with the release being set for “later in 2013” and pricing completely non-existent (the Turtle Shell is $149). While the Armadillo looks good for a backyard party, I don’t see lugging it on a camping and hiking trip as a viable option. Perhaps if you park and stay at a campground then sure, but my son and I hike from place to place and camp, mostly backwoods, and packing light and moving quickly is a priority that these luxuries do not lend themselves to.

Just ahead of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, longtime electronics manufacturer Westinghouse has announced a new lineup of bluetooth speakers. These are compatible with most every phone and tablet, as well as the iPod touch. The “unplug” series comes in four different models.

However, these tiny systems are more than just speakers. According to Westinghouse, the AIO model “charges the phone or tablet and offers a remarkable feature set, including AC and DC chargers, a MicroSD slot for additional music files or backup, and a built-in speakerphone, thanks to an internal microphone with noise suppression and echo cancellation for amazing call clarity.”

In addition, all but the lowest end model contain MicroSD card slots and the company claims 16-20 hours of battery life for each of the models.

The devices will range in price from $99 to $229 with AIO, 200 and 300 becoming available sometime in the first quarter of this year. The Unplug 100 is available now.

Sonos are well-known for their innovative audio products which integrate together to build highly controllable wireless hi-fi systems. Simplistically, you can start with one or two units and build-up over time until you can play music in any room in the house. The Sonos system can be controlled via smartphones and tablets with apps available for both iOS and Android devices.

I chat to Ian about Sonos’ latest developments including Spotify streaming, their entry-level unity the Play 3, and the larger Play 5.

SOUL by Ludacris can be guaranteed to have some nice gear on show and they don’t disappoint. Allante takes in the latest audio extravaganza.

First up are the flagship SL300 flagship noise-cancelling headphones, with built-in amplification giving great sound even within noisy environments such as aircraft.

The little brother to the SL300s are the SL100s, a smaller headset; still very stylish, but without the noise-cancellation.

And if you prefer earbuds, the SL49 and SL99s are good choices depending on budget.

Finally, the brand new “Party in Box” is a portable iPhone dock…but when I say “portable”, I don’t mean slip-it-in-your-pocket portable. It’s the size of a small suitcase and has a carrying handle. Granted, the sound quality should be amazing and it will blow any other sound dock into the weeds but if you want it, prepare to fork out $1299. Wow!

California Audio Technology, known as CAT, work with third-party hardware vendors in the home theater field to produce some of the best sound quality available. They were recently at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas showing off their latest top-of-the-line 2 channel audio speakers. These aren’t speakers for the feint of heart. Each tower weighs in at 120 pounds.

CAT makes more than simple tower speakers though, they precision-make each speaker and can design them for almost any installation, including hidden in-wall speakers. Their custom-made speakers can be found anywhere from homes, to music studios, to mega yachts. All of that massive weight comes in handy to prevent any speaker vibration, which is a common issue in cheap speakers.

To really understand everything that goes into these speakers you will really need to watch the video below for an in-depth explanation of how they are milled and how they work. You can visit them at their web site. CAT speakers are on the market now, but if you have to ask the price….well, you know how that saying ends.

iLuv will be familiar to many with their extensive range of matching accessories for tablets, smartphones and MP3 players. At CES this year, iLuv won no less than 5 CES Innovations Honoree awards to add to their collection of accolades. Todd gets a review of their latest products from Peter of iLuv.

The DreamTraveler is combined iPhone dock, USB charger and mains power strip squared aimed at those unfortunate souls who have to spend time in poorly equipped hotel rooms. It has two USB charging ports, three power outlets and an Apple connector for charging iPhones, iPods and iPads.

For the international traveller, iLuv has the RockWall, a dual USB charger that comes with the right mains plugs for different countries round the world.

Finally, the Mo’Beats is a portable tablet or smartphone cradle with Bluetooth wireless speakers that has a built-in lithium-ion battery which will run for about 4 hours.

All the products will be available in April or May. The Mo’Beats SRP is expected to be $89.99 but the website is currently showing $99.99. I think Peter gets his prices mixed up in the video as the RockWall is priced at $49.99 on the website and the DreamTraveler is $129.99.

Today most of us travel with portable music devices, and in a lot cases that’s now our smartphone or tablet. Those device don’t always have very good external speakers, but most them do have Bluetooth capability. That same Bluetooth technology is now built into external speakers, which really helps to bring these new portable devices to life.

The new BlueII Bluetooth speaker from Mighty Dwarf brings surface induction to the external speaker world. By using the surface the speaker is sitting on to amplify the sound Mighty Dwarf has added a whole new dimension to this external speaker. For those with a device that doesn’t feature Bluetooth technology there is a model for you as well.

The new BlueII will be available in March of this year and carries an MSRP of $120 for the Bluetooth model, and $100 for the standard version. There are also other versions already available in the $75 range. You can visit Mighty Dwarf to find out more, and also check out the video demo posted below.

Speakers in your clothes, at first I thought why would anybody want to have speakers in their clothes, but the more I thought about the more I liked the idea. Ok, maybe we should step back for a minute, what are we talking about. We are talking about Electret-electrostatic Flexible Loudspeakers (EFL) from VeriSonik. These are super thin speakers, about the same thinnest as a very thin piece of cardboard only flexible. Unlike regular speaker that have large cones, these speakers create sound by the use of positively charged membranes. They use only 10 percent of the power of normal speakers. The sound isn’t great, it is like the sound you get from a pair of modestly priced headphones, but it’s ok.

VeriSonik sells the speakers to end customers. The end customer comes to VeriSonik and tells them how they want to use the speakers. VeraSonik then integrates the Electret speakers into the end customer’s design. I could see these speakers being placed in many things, including pillows, backpacks, stuffed animals, backs of chairs just to name a few. VeriSonik is based in Taipei, Taiwan and has been around since 2010. Electret-electrostatic Flexible Speakers were developed by Taiwan electrets electronics corporation(TEEC). Have you ever heard these speakers, what did you think of the sound.